Next week,strangers with a truck will take away everything we own,except the clothes on our backs,the car we will drive,and as much stuff as we can pack into it.
It’s called ____ .Some people do it often.For others,like me,it’g a _____experience.In all my adult years,I’ve moved only three times.
My first ____ and I moved into our first house with a bed,our clothes and a few gifts.That was many years ago.Over the years,I ____ that house with three children,a few dogs and enough stuff to ____ the ceiling.
Then the kids grew up,I lost my husband to cancer,and I began to learn about ____ .
First,I let go of the ____ of being in contro1.Life isn’t about being in charge of what ___ ;it’s about being in charge of what we do with it.
Next,I let go of ___ the things I care most about,like keeping in touch with the people that ____ the most to me.
I let go of the people whose ____ are about anger or hatred,and tried instead to ____ myself with those who shine with ____ .
Finally,I let go of being alone—I remarried.I ____ moved to a new city with my new husband,and after that move,I __ I’d stop collecting meaningless things.But 12 years later,here I am,still learning about letting go.
We’11 all move someday from this ____ to the next,but we won’t need a truck to do it.We’ll take ____ with us and leave behind a(n) ____ of the life we lived,the mistakes we __ ,and all the love and kindness we tried to show.
That memory might not be a treasure,but if we’re ___ ,someone will keep it and hold it close and never let it go.
1.A. moving B. changing C. losing D. missing
2.A. similar B. familiar C. rare D. valuable
3.A. son B. daughter C. husband D. wife
4.A. equipped B. filled C. involved D. provided
5.A. paint B. repair C. build D. reach
6.A. holding on B. 1etting go C. giving back D. turning down
7.A. plan B. idea C. concept D. decision
8.A. devotes B. matters C. happens D. arrives
9.A. putting off B. coming across C. making out D. taking over
10.A. offer B. appear C. indicate D. mean
11.A. issues B. subjects C. 1ives D. beliefs
12.A. present B. attract C. support D. surround
13.A. kindness B. patience C. fortune D. humour
14.A. naturally B. eventually C. formally D. regularly
15.A. suggested B. informed C. insisted D. promised
16.A. city B. town C. world D. country
17.A. something B. anything C. everything D. nothing
18.A. memory B. experience C. record D. history
19.A. completed B. made C. conducted D. forgot
20.A. optimistic B. generous C. determined D. fortunate
Every minute,every single day,about a truckload of plastic enters our oceans.1. And to date,only 9%of that has been recycled.
We buy a bottle of water,drink it for a few minutes,and toss its permanent packaging“away”.We eat potato chips,finish them,then throw their permanent packaging“away”.We buy produce,take it out of the unnecessary plastic wrap,then throw its permanent packaging“away”.
The cycle is endless,and it happens countless times every single day.2. As far as we try to toss a piece of plastic—whether it’s into a recycling bin or not——it does not disappear.Chances are,it ends up polluting our communities,oceans or waterways in some form.
For years,we’ve been told the problem of plastic packaging can be solved through batter individual action.3. But the truth is that we cannot recycle our way out of this mess.
Recycling alone will never stop the flow of plastics into our oceans;we have to get to the source of the problem and slow down the production of all this plastic waste.Think about it:if your home was flooding because you had left the tap on,your first step wouldn’t be to start mopping.You’d first cut the flooding off at its source—the tap.4.
We need corporations—those like Coca-Cola,Unilever,Starbucks and Neatlé that continue to produce throwaway plastic bottles—to step up and take their responsibility for the mess they’ve created.5. .We will continue to do our part,but it’s time for the world’s largest corporations to do theirs.
A.This is their problem to deal with.
B.Plastic pollution is becoming very serious.
C.But here is the problem—there is no“away”.
D.In many ways,our plastic problem is no different.
E.We think that if we simply recycle we’re doing our part.
F.It’s impossible for us to get rid of plastic pollution completely.
G.Since the 1950s,some 8.3bn tons of plastic have been produced worldwide.
It sounds almost too good to be true,but a new study on sleeping brains suggests that listening to languages while you sleep can actually help you to learn them.
For the study,researchers played recordings of foreign words and their translations to subjects enjoying slow-wave sleep,a stage when a person has 1ittle consciousness of their environment.To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives,researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words.
When the subjects woke up,they were presented with the made-up words again without their translations.The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger.This vague(模糊的)way of testing their understanding of the words is an approach that is supposed to tap into the unconscious memory.
Unbelievably,the subjects were able to correctly classify the words in this way at an accuracy rate that was 10 percent higher than random chance.That’s not a rate high enough to have them suddenly communicating in a foreign tongue,but it is enough to suggest that the brain is still absorbing information on some level,even during sleep.
Researchers have long known that sleep is important for memory,but previously its role in memory was thought to relate only to the preservation and organization of memories acquired during wakefulness.This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep.
In other words,our brains are listening to the world,and learning about it,even when our conscious selves are not present.
The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep.If so,it could forever change how we train our brains to learn new things.Sleep learning might become a widespread practice.
1.Why did researchers use some made-up words in the study?
A. To guarantee the accuracy of the test result.
B. To increase the difficulty of testing information.
C. To avoid the subjects cheating in the experiment.
D. To test if our brain are good at learning something new.
2.What were the subjects asked to do in the study?
A. Classify what they heard by size.
B. Make up a word to represent“large”or“small”.
C. Repeat the words they heard in the sleep.
D. Imagine the meanings of the made-up words.
3.What conclusion did researchers draw from this study?
A. Sleep is necessary for a good memory.
B. Memory formation goes on during sleep.
C. Listening during sleep is good for our brain.
D. Learning languages in sleep has better effects.
4.What will be the researchers’next plan?
A. To train people how to learn during sleep.
B. To prove the existence of unconscious memory.
C. To dig out the reason for unconscious learning.
D. To study the effect of sleep learning on conscious learning.
In America,the number of people killed in car crashes in 2016 was above 40,000 for the first time in a decade,data released on Wednesday shows.
“Americans believe there is nothing we can do to stop crashes from happening,but that isn't true.We are behind the rest of the developed world in addressing highway fatalities(死亡).We just haven't been willing to do what needs to be done,”said Deborah A.P.Hersman,president of the National Safety Council.
The National Safety Council data shows a 6 percent increase in deaths in 2018 when compared with 2015 and a 3 percent increase in the number of miles Americana drove in 2016.
“Motor vehicle fatality numbers have been ringing the alarm for two years,”Hersman said.“Unfortunately,we have been blind to the data and the killings on our roadways.If we fail to take action,the death tell will continue to rise.”
“The trend is clear:After years of progress,highway deaths are heading in the wrong direction,”said Jonathan Adkins,a state safety official.
The number of people killed reached a record low of 32,675 in 2014,according to NHTSA statistics.That record followed a fairly steady downward track for the past six years that experts attributed it primarily to safety features that have been built into cars and trucks.
Safety advances including increased seat-belt use,air bags,anti-lock braking,stability controls and electronic warnings and cameras.
The bad economy and high gas prices also influenced the reduction in deaths.Now,with unemployment and gas prices both low,more people are driving for work and pleasure trips.
“It’s not just that Americans drive more miles when the economy improves ;it’s the kind of miles they drive,”said Adrian Lund,president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
1.What’s Hersman’s attitude towards the present situation?
A. It has been getting better. B. It can hardly be improved.
C. The efforts are far from enough. D. Much work hart already been done.
2.What do we learn about the number of highway deaths in 2013 in America?
A. It’s lower than that in 2014. B. It’s lower than that in 2010.
C. It’s the lowest in recent years. D. It’s the highest in recently years.
3.What will happen with the economic recovery?
A. The gas prices will go up. B. The gas price will go down.
C. There will be more highway deaths. D. There will be fewer highway deaths.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Traffic Deaths Are on the Rise B. Highway Deaths Will Drop off
C. Measures to Handle Car Crashes D. Safety Advances in Cars Are Made
I have three kids and a great husband and I’m enjoying a career that I find challenging and fun.To the outside world,this feels like“Success.”But there is still a voice in my heart asking if this is who I truly am.Only in silence do I hear the self and wonder who that person might be.
So I booked a trip to find out.I travelled,for the first time,without my husband or kids.I went to Iceland with a friend,who shares an appreciation for wilderness and silence.
For six days,we were immersed(沉浸)in wild,raw scenery and real weather—a11 kinds of weather.Climbing a mountain against rain and returning to a tent for a simple meal reminds you how little you actually need.And how strong it feels to be uncomfortable sometimes.
I found silence in Iceland,and time to consider the me outside of career and the me out—side of kids as I shared stories with strangers.
When I stopped talking and just 1istened,I became more generous.I 1earned that choosing to be generous can create more space,more food and more warmth.
But I didn’t really gain any better appreciation of what I want from life or my job.I suspect the anxiety that drove me to seek silence in Iceland was losing sight of my ability to choose gratitude and joy,and to be present in the challenges I set in my career and my family.
I came home to noise,rush and love;with no less confusion on who I want to be. I know the answer isn’t waiting out there on the top of a mountain in Iceland.The answer is in front of me with every step on my own 1ife’s path,and in every choice I make.
1.Why did the author take a trip to Iceland?
A. To gain a new experience. B. To enjoy family happiness.
C. To better understand herself. D. To appreciate natural beauty.
2.What do we 1earn about the author’s trip?
A. Exciting. B. Difficult.
C. Relaxing. D. Adventurous.
3.What change happened to the author?
A. She felt lonelier. B. She felt more anxious.
C. She became more caring. D. She became more confident.
4.What will the author do in the future?
A. Go back to nature. B. Face reality bravely.
C. Travel to Iceland more often. D. Pay less attention to her feelings.
SECONDARY PROGRAMS & RESOURCES
1.What opportunity can students get according to the text?
A. Helping in the summer Zoo Camp.
B. Feeding and training animals in the zoo.
C. Volunteering in the zoo’s routine work.
D. Earning their grade 10 biology credit.
2.How much does a program about climate cost?
A. Free of charge. B. $2.
C. $3. D. $4.
3.How can people get all the program information?
A. Call 416—392—5932.
B. Visit:torontozoo.com.
C. Email tzvolunteers@torontozoo.ca.
D. Visit:torontozoo.com/educationandcamps/zooschoo1.